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Roger LaPlant honored October 2007

About 30 people gathered on October 27, 2007 at the Silver Stallion Restaurant in Des Plaines, IL to honor Roger LaPlant.  Roger, along with his wife Liz, were the first FMS activists in Illinois  They helped to found the FMS Foundation, were the first contacts for the Foundation in Illinois and were the first people that many FMS families talked to about their problem.  He and Liz spent endless hours doing that.  Roger and Liz also organized the first FMS conferences in Illinois and made contacts with the local media.  In 1993 they were among those who organized what was then known as the Illinois FMS Society which later became the Illinois-Wisconsin FMS Society.  Liz bacame the Society's first President.  Those present at the gathering expressed their deep heart-felt appreciation for all of Roger's and Liz's efforts.

FMS in the media


Jury awards $862,000 in Hess case

 
    On September 2, 1999 after five weeks of testimony, the jury found Wisconsin psychiatrist Juan Fernandez, III negligent in his treatment of Joan Hess. Katie Spanuello continues an account of the trial which she began in the August 1999 Newsletter:

     I was not in attendance for all of the last week of the trial. I did, however, hear Carolyn Decker (a therapist who treated J. Hess and settled out of court) describe her treatment of Joan. At one point in her treatment she sent Joan Hess to a psychic. When attorney Smoler questioned her we found out it was the same psychic Decker used! The therapist, however, declined to use the word psychic and instead insisted upon "intuitive". She would/could not give a definition. 
    Decker also claimed she had not used repressed memory therapy and that she had used self esteem therapy. As I listened to her testimony it became clear to me that therapists haven't stopped using recovered memory therapy (RMT);  they are just calling it by another name. 
    They no longer find many M.P.D.s (multiple personality disorder), but a lot of people are suffering from Dissociate Identity Disorder. Recovered memory therapy (RMT) is out so they use self esteem therapy with guided imagery to "recover " memories. 
    The trial went to the jury Monday afternoon.(August 30) Tuesday and Wednesday were very long days. On Thursday afternoon the jury reached a verdict. Dr. Juan Fernandez III was found negligent in his treatment of Joan Hess. The jury awarded J. Hess and family $862,000. 
    I cried with joy that finally someone (the jury) could see and call to account what horrific damage so many in the mental health field have been doing. I was disappointed in the size of the award. The cost of defending a case like this is so high. The insurance companies seem to have unlimited funds and private law firms do not. 
    The insurance company has not yet decided if they will appeal. As of now no dollars have been distributed. I'll keep you posted. 

    It is interesting to me that in a quiet state like Wisconsin we have seen so much RMT legal action. Let me remind you: 
 

• 1997 - Naden Cool was awarded a 2.4 million dollar settlement in Appleton against Dr. K. Olson. This story was on "60 Minutes."
• 1999 -Supreme Court Ruling in the Sawyer case allowed 3rd party lawsuits in RMT cases This will affect the entire country.
• Black River Falls - Three students who had been treated with repressed memory therapy by therapist Karen Burgoyne received a $650,000 settlement. One student's father was part of the lawsuit settlement.

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